Today's letters: Hey Bettman — Lord Stanley wants his cup back

Hey Bettman — Lord Stanley wants his cup back

As a Christmas present to all hockey-crazed Canadians, I am asking Governor General David Johnston to free the Stanley Cup from the grip of the NHL and its two puppet trustees.
I’m asking Mr. Johnston to do this, since he’s a successor to Lord Stanley of Preston, who was appointed Canadian governor-general in 1888. In 1909, he donated the trophy that still bears his name, to be awarded to Canada’s best amateur hockey club. (Decades later, it became the de facto championship trophy of the NHL.)
Being Canadians (and natural compromisers), we could allow the NHL to keep it in regular years, but in strike years, we can open the competition up to a challenge format, as was intended.
Both France and England have this format for their respective soccer championships (with the Coupe de France and the FA Cup). Jean Marier, Montreal.

Some people deserve to die

Re: Death Penalty: Barbaric, Backward — And Popular, letter to the editor, Dec. 13.
Letter-writer Emile Therien’s states that morality is the only real issue in respect to the death penalty. I agree with that, but my morality concludes that the death penalty is justified in certain cases. Murderers can remain a deadly threat even when they are behind bars. In the same issue as Mr. Therien’s letter, there is a report of a jailed murderer in New Mexico sending two released criminals to castrate and murder Justin Bieber. In B.C., a jailed multiple murderer recently killed his cellmate, simply because he enjoyed killing. And then there is Peter Woodcock, who was sentenced to 35 years for killing two young children in Toronto. At the end of his sentence, he killed and dismembered another inmate before he left prison.
Had these murderers been executed, innocent people would have been saved. I resent every nickel of tax I have paid to house, feed and clothe the likes of Clifford Olson or Peter Woodcock. My morality places me with the substantial majority of Canadians who approve of the death penalty, in appropriate cases. Brian Purdy, Calgary.

F-35 alternatives

Re: The Jet Devils We Don’t Know, John Ivison, Dec. 14.
John Ivison ends his column on the F-35s costs by stating, “If we accept we need the capability to police our own half of the continent … then we should just suck it up and stop whining about the cost.”
But why do we have to accept that premise? Who are we protecting ourselves from? The Americans? What will a few F-35s do against their massive war machine? The Russians? The Americans wouldn’t let them near us, lest we become another Cuba? The Chinese? See above.
So I suggest we take half the expected cost of the new jets and pay the Yanks to provide us with air defence. And that should not be a blow to our national pride. After all, the Americans now rely on the Russians to get them into space.
The question is not about which jet, it’s about jet vs. no jet. Bruce Antonello, Waterloo, Ont.

It is possible to find a replacement for the F-25 that will be cheaper to buy and operate. Simply cut in half the number of new fighters and replace them with drones. Then we could spend the billions we save on education and health. Brian Timmins, Knowlton, Que.

The day of the jet fighter is really numbered; they will soon be overtaken by robotics. Our government should instead be investing in drone fighter planes. If we had leaders, rather than followers, this is exactly the direction Canada would be heading, marrying Canada’s strengths in robotics with a new generation of flying inventions.
Fighter jets, as we knew them, are old technology. Zell Goodbaum, Toronto.

Open for business

Re: The Unions’ Own Worst Enemy, editorials, Dec. 14.
With Tuesday’s vote on right-to-work legislation, the great state of Michigan just hung an “open for business” sign on their front door. Shame we Canadians don’t have that kind of political will.
Karen Turner, New Westminster, B.C.
Gun registry saved no lives
Re: Gun Registry Was A ‘Well-Run Program,’ letters to the editor, Dec. 14; Why The Long-Gun Registry Doesn’t Work — And Never Did, Gary Mauser, Dec. 11.
The two letters knocking Gary Mauser’s insightful article indicates that some people “don’t get reality.” Indeed, some guns are long and some guns are short, but allow me to say it one more time: criminals don’t register guns and even registered guns are used by deranged people from time to time. If Quebec decides to run its own gun registry, it will be another example of throwing away tax dollars for a chimera. Andy Neimers, Digby Neck, N.S.

In her defence of the now-defunct long-gun registry, letter-writer Sheryl Lipton experiences two serious disconnects in logic. She first asks of Prof. Mauser, “What percentage of spousal homicide would justify a registry?” Keeping in mind that purchase of a firearm of any kind still requires a licence, complete with background checks and spousal permission, could Ms. Lipton enlighten us by explaining just how the deposition of a gun’s serial number in a computer file in New Brunswick will prevent a disturbed individual from using that gun to injure or kill a spouse or anyone else?
Ms. Lipton goes on to suggest that, since the most dangerous criminals have unregistered firearms, the obvious solution is for all firearms, not just long guns, to be registered. Notwithstanding the fact that legal handguns have been registered since 1934, it seems that we simply need to invite all criminals to stop by their closest police station on Jan. 1 to register their firearms. Why didn’t we think of this before? W.G. Hopkins, Granton, Ont.

Another success

Re: Jim & Joanne Chu, 50 Years Later, Laura Madokoro, Dec. 12.
Jim and Joanne Chu’s success story is eminently worth celebrating; however, we have a huge success story here in Toronto, as well.
Shirley Hoy, who arrived in Canada at the age of seven with her brother David (now an engineer), was the first Chinese-Canadian to become the CEO of the former Metropolitan Toronto Corporation and later the city manager of the amalgamated City of Toronto.
After retirement, she is now the CEO of the Toronto Lands Corporation, sits on the governing council of the University of Toronto and on the board of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, as well as the United Way.
Not an insignificant feat for a seven-year-old who landed in North Bay not knowing a word of English.
Toronto should celebrate its own success stories more often. Gordon J. Chong, Toronto.

Fun with words

Re: No Business? Then No Charity For You, John McKay, Dec. 13.
Liberal MP John McKay says the new Canadian International Development Agency policy regarding foreign development assistance, “seems more like ideology than principled policy.”
First I thought, what is the difference? Then I realized that principles is what I have, and ideology is what my political opponents have. Randall Golhof, Vancouver.

Fun with numbers

Re: What’s The Most Dangerous Job? Ask Obama, letter to the editor, Dec. 14.
Jonathan Berkowitz’s letter certainly shows how a statistician like himself can manipulate statistics. His example compares the rate of assassination of presidents, during their time in office, as 9.3%, and compares this with the rate of death of fishermen on an annual basis. To get a proper comparison, he should compare the death rate of presidents on an annual basis. Assuming an average term of 5.2 years (43 presidents since 1789), the annual death rate becomes about 1.8%; still rather high, of course, but only about 10 times the death rate of fishermen. Julian Swann, Ottawa.

Band wars

Re: ‘If Rush Deserves A Seat In The Hall Of Fame, The Guess Who Deserves The Stage,’ letter to the editor, Dec. 14.
Arguments akin to “your band sucks because mine is better” belong in the schoolyard, not the newspaper. Music appreciation is not a zero sum game. Furthermore, the author’s CanCon invocations make no sense. Rush had little to no radio support in its early days, in Canada or elsewhere. Its success was earned one live show, one record sale, at a time. Ironically, there are perhaps no two better examples than Rush and The Guess Who of Canadian bands that would most certainly have made it without forced airplay at home. And for what it’s worth, I enjoy them both. Dave Cosgrave, Toronto.